Tool box tray

ABSTRACT

A tool box tray for use by a workman to store and transport his tools and for inclusion within a larger tool storage box. The tray has a folding handle that can be easily erected to provide a convenient hand-engaging tray support, or that can be folded within the tray to present a minimum height dimension for arrangement in a tool storage box.

United States Patent 11 1 Beck 1 1 TOOL BOX TRAY [76] Inventor: Roy Z. Beck, 360 West 2650 North,

Layton, Utah 84041 [22] Filed: Aug. 20, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 390,100

[52] US. Cl. 220/96; 16/115; 312/D1G. 33 [51] Int. Cl B6511 25/28 [58] Field of Search 220/94 R, 96; 16/115; 206/170, 174, 164, 349; 312/244, DIG. 33; 217/125 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 576,188 2/1897 217/125 627,273 6/1899 Seibert 220/96 1,328,672 1/1920 Hirsohn 220/94 R 1,355,354 10/1920 Pearson... 220/94 R 1,632,848 6/1927 Prahl 1 1 220/94 R 1,835,897 12/1931 Pratt et al7 312/D1G. 33 1,992,435 2/1935 Labadie et a1. 220/94 R 1 Jul 1,1975

2,395,601 2/1946 Wenthe 206/174 2,431,231 11/1947 Darnell 206/174 2,628,752 2/1953 Conkish 312/244 2,682,972 7/1954 Ringler 16/115 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 341,601 7/1919 Germany 220/94 R 1,166,967 11/1958 France 220/96 Primary ExaminerWi1liam 1. Price Assistant Examiner-Allan N. Shoap [57 ABSTRACT A tool box tray for use by a workman to store and transport his tools and for inclusion within a larger tool storage box, The tray has a folding handle that can be easily erected to provide a convenient handengaging tray support, or that can be folded within the tray to present a minimum height dimension for arrangement in a tool storage box.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures FIG FIG 2 FIG TOOL BOX TRAY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to tool box trays having collapsible or folding support handles.

2. Prior Art Tool box trays having permanently installed handles are, of course, well known and in common use. Such trays are usually squat in appearance and have end walls that meet in an apex above the junction with the tray side walls. The end wall apexes are opposite one another and generally have a metal or wood rod secured therebctween to form the tray handle. Since such a tray handle is generally positioned only a short distance above the tray, tools placed therein may not leave sufficient room for convenient grasping of the handle. Of course, the handle may also be arranged well above the level of the tray side walls, but with such an arrangement the height of the tray handle makes the tray unsuitable for use within most tool storage boxes.

While no other tool box trays, within my knowledge, have heretofore recognized the desirability of providing a tool box tray having a collapsible or folding handle as does the present invention, collapsible or folding handles have heretofore been incorporated with certain other carrying devices.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,323,094, 2,414,708, 2,470,432, 2,613,950, 2,682,972, 2,976,390 and 3,522,955 all disclose carrying devices or containers having a folding or a collapsing handle or handles therefor. Only U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,323,094, 2,414,708 and 2,470,432, however, involve handles having risers as parts thereof that are arranged to pivot from stowed positions to locked, erect positions. U.S. Pat. No. 2,323,094 discloses a handle having opposite ends thereof, each arranged to slide in elongate tracks in a pair of intersecting handle support risers. Spaced ends of each pair of risers are pivotally connected across from one another to the sides of a container.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,414,708 discloses a bottle carrier employing a folding handle having a single support riser attached to each end thereof. The risers of this handle each have an enlarged elongate slot and a continuing small elongate keyway. A rectangular pivot pin extending from each handle end projects through the enlarged slot to allow the handle to pivot, but, when the handle is raised to place the pivot pin within the keyway the rectangular configuration of the pin prevents handle rotation.

The pail handle of U.S. Pat. No. 2,470,432 also incorporates a single handle with risers that are pivotally coupled to ends of a pail support arrangement. The pivotal coupling of these end risers is at a mid-point of each riser and books on the lower ends of the risers merely serve to lock a pair of buckets together.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a tool box tray having a handle that can be folded 1 tool box tray that is easily constructed from inexpensive materials and that can be readily installed on a conventional tool box tray during construction thereof.

Still another object is to provide a locking arrangement for the folding handle that, once engaged, will reliably operate to support the handle in an erect attitude for as long as weight is supported by the handle, and that will allow handle collapse when the weight is removed.

Principal features of the present invention include a tool box tray formed as a low-profile, open-top box, usually rectangular in shape, that may have the usual spacers arranged therein to divide the box into sections for storing small tools and the like. Pivot posts and lock pins are secured to spaced apart walls to receive handle carrying risers.

The risers have elongate pivot holes through which the pivot posts project and upstanding divider walls lock the risers onto the pivot posts.

The bar forming the handle is pivotable above the plane of the tray top on the risers. The lock pins project inwardly opposite to one another from upper portions of the same walls from which the pivot posts project. A lock slot formed in each handle riser has an elongate portion extending in the same direction as the pivot slot in the riser and an angled portion extending from the elongate portion generally towards the handle and to an edge of the riser.

The folding handle of the invention is erected by pivoting the bar and connected risers thereof around the pivot posts. As the handle is moved over the tray proper, the open ends of the lock slots in each riser intersect and move the risers along the lock pins. Continued upward rotation of the handle moves the lock slots along the lock pins and simultaneously moves the handle and riser with respect to the tray proper. When the handle has been moved to a normal attitude the angulated portions of the lock slots have moved past the lock pins and the lock pins are positioned at the upper ends of the elongate portions of the lock slots extending in the same direction as the pivot slots. Thereafter, when the handle and handle risers are moved vertically, as by an operator picking up the tray by the handle, the respective lock slots and pivot slots will travel on the respective lock pins and pivot posts until the bottoms of the slots engage the pins and posts and the angled portions of the lock slots are no longer aligned with the lockpins. Continued lifting will then raise the tray. A reverse procedure is followed in moving the handle to its folded position.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool box tray of the present invention, taken from slightly above and at one corner of the tray, and with a folding handle partially raised above the tray;

FIG. 2, a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing in broken lines one handle riser being pivoted to a folded attitude; and

FIG. 3, a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1 and showing the connection of the folding handle to the tool box tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings:

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the tool box tray of the present invention includes a squat, opentop rectangular box 11, having a bottom 11a, upstanding, spaced apart side walls 11b and upstanding, spaced apart end walls 11c that interconnect the side walls and bottom. The box 11 is formed as a standard tool box tray preferably incorporating partitions therein to divide the box into appropriate sections. A folding handle, shown generally at 12, is connected to extend above the box 11.

Divider walls 13, FIGS. 1 and 3, are installed transversely across the box 11 and are spaced apart from one another and equally from the box ends to extend in a normal attitude, upwardly from the box bottom lla. Aligned pivot posts 14 project from opposite faces of the divider walls 13, on the longitudinal center plane of the box 11 and upstanding plates 15 also extend across the box 11 interior and are upstanding from bottom 11a to each be closely adjacent to the projecting end of a pivot post 14.

As shown best in H6. 3, a pair of elongate handle risers 16 each have a longitudinal pivot slot 17 through a lower end 16a thereof, through which slot a pivot post 14 extends. The upstanding plates 15 serve to hold the risers on the pivot posts. The handle risers 16 have a bar 18 extending therebetween and the bar is secured at its ends to top ends 16b of the risers to serve as the hand-engaging portion of handle 12.

A locking pin 19, having an enlarged head 19a thereon, projects from each upright plate 15 above the pivot post 14 thereon to receive a lock slot 20 formed in the handle riser pivotally connected to the pivot post beneath the locking pin. Each lock slot 20 comprises an elongate portion 20a extending longitudinally in the handle riser a spaced distance from the pivot slot 17, in the direction of the upper end 16b of the riser. The elongate portion 200 has a bottom end 20b and an upper end 20c from which an angled portion 20d of the lock slot extends. The angled portion extends from the top of the elongate portion, on an angle that is generally towards the upper end 16b of the riser to open at a side edge of the riser.

In use, handle 12 has a folded position wherein the risers 16 are pivoted about pivot posts 14 until the bar 18 rests on the upstanding plates 15 adjacent to one side wall. In this folded position the tray has a compact profile and will easily fit within a tool box. The folded handle does not obstruct access to the tray and its contents and the handle does not limit the height to which tray contents can extend. in using the handle to lift the tray, bar 18 is grasped and raised, thereby pivoting the risers about the pivot posts 14. As the risers pivot towards a position extending normal to the tray proper the angled portions 20d of the lock slots move around the lock pins 19 and the lock pins, acting on the edges of the angled portion 20d of the lock slot cam the risers upwardly with respect to the tray bottom. When the handle 12 has been pivoted so that the risers are fully normal to the tray bottom the lock pins are in the common lower end of the angled and upper end of the elongated portions of the lock slot. Thereafter, application of a lifting force on the handle 12 will initially raise the risers with respect to the tray bottom and will move the pivot slots and lock slots with respect to the pivot posts 14 and lock pins 19, respectively, until the posts and pins are engaged by the bottom ends 170 and 20b, respectively of the slots. Continued lifting on the handle will then raise the tray while engagement of the edges of the slots with the posts and pins will keep the handle from pivoting.

ln returning the handle to its folded position, the handle is first moved towards the bottom until the pivot posts are near the tops of the pivot slots and the lock pins are at the common tops of the elongate portions and bottoms of the angled portions of the lock slots. Thereafter, the handle is pivoted about the pivot posts to the folded position.

Although a preferred form of my invention has been herein disclosed, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example and that variations are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, which subject matter I regard as my invention.

1 claim:

1. A tool box tray comprising a box having a bottom, spaced upright side walls and spaced, upright end walls interconnecting the bottom and side walls, and an open top;

a handle including a bar having risers connected to the opposite bar ends;

means for pivotally connecting the ends of said handle risers, opposite to said bar, to said box such that said handle is pivotable between an elevated attitude wherein the risers form an angle normal to said box bottom and the bar is spaced above the walls, and a folded attitude where the handle rests within said box at the level of the walls, said means comprising a pair of spaced, transversely extending wall sections, upstanding from the box bottom, a pair of aligned pivot posts each projecting from one of said walls, and a longitudinal elongate pivot slot in each riser, each said slot fitting over one of said pivot posts, and means to hold said risers on said pivot posts; and releasible locking means for maintaining said handle in said elevated attitude, said releasible locking means being spaced from said means for pivotally connecting the ends of said handle risers to said box.

2. A tool box tray as recited in claim 1, wherein the releasible locking means consists of a lock pin projecting from each of the wall sections,

above the pivot post thereof to intersect the plane of rotation of the handle riser pivotally connected to the wall section; and

slot means formed in each said handle riser, opening through a side of each said handle riser for receiving and passing said lock pin therein, said slot means including an angled portion extending from a side edge of the riser inwardly of the riser and downwardly to an elongate portion extending longitudinally of the riser and above the pivot slot, whereby raising of said handle positions said lock pins in said elongate portions to prevent rotation of the handle.

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1. A tool box tray comprising a box having a bottom, spaced upright side walls and spaced, upright end walls interconnecting the bottom and side walls, and an open top; a handle including a bar having risers connected to the opposite bar ends; means for pivotally connecting the ends of said handle risers, opposite to said bar, to said box such that said handle is pivotable between an elevated attitude wherein the risers form an angle normal to said box bottom and the bar is spaced above the walls, and a folded attitude where the handle rests within said box at the level of the walls, said means comprising a pair of spaced, transversely extending wall sections, upstanding from the box bottom, a pair of aligned pivot posts each projecting from one of said walls, and a longitudinal elongate pivot slot in each riser, each said slot fitting over one of said pivot posts, and means to hold said risers on said pivot posts; and releasible locking means for maintaining said handle in said elevated attitude, said releasible locking means being spaced from said means for pivotally connecting the ends of said handle risers to said box.
 2. A tool box tray as recited in claim 1, wherein the releasible locking means consists of a lock pin projecting from each of the wall sections, above the pivot post thereof to intersect the plane of rotation of the handle riser pivotally connected to the wall section; and slot means formed in each said handle riser, opening through a side of each said handle riser for receiving and passing said lock pin therein, said slot means including an angled portion extending from a side edge of the riser inwardly of the riser and downwardly to an elongate portion extending longitudinally of the riser and above the pivot slot, whereby raising of said handle positions said lock pins in said elongate portions to prevent rotation of the handle. 